Tough going: Minister Chloe Smith was 'sacrificed' by George Osborne by being sent on Newsnight to explain another of his Budget U-turns, it was claimed today

When the Government’s youngest
minister was pitted against veteran interrogator Jeremy Paxman to defend
yet another U-turn, carnage was perhaps inevitable.

Chloe Smith, 30, was a lamb to the
slaughter, while George Osborne – the one who actually scrapped a 3p
rise in fuel duty – dined safely in his Downing Street flat with Tory
colleagues.

Her subsequent mauling by the BBC’s
biggest beast during eight excruciating minutes on Newsnight was
described as car-crash television.

Some observers said there should have been a warning to viewers to avert their eyes if they found blood sports offensive.

There was scathing criticism of the ‘cowardly’ Chancellor for not facing Paxman.

Miss Smith, Economic Secretary to the
Treasury, struggled to explain why the Government finally ditched its
planned fuel tax hike so abruptly this week, having spent several months
withstanding sustained pressure to do so.

What should have been a good news
story for the Coalition was soon overshadowed by horror at Miss Smith’s
performance late on Tuesday night.

During Miss Smith’s ordeal on live television, Paxman repeatedly asked her when she had first found out about the U-turn.

She stumbled and hesitated as she said
she would not get into the ‘gory details’ or give a ‘running
commentary’, simply saying there had been discussions for some time.

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The veteran broadcaster then grilled the novice minister on when she was told about the decision and where the £550 million needed to cover the freeze would come from.

She said that she would not go into
detail about the timescales of the decision, and that the costs would be
covered by department underspends - but would not say which ones.

'It is not possible to give you a full breakdown at this point because the figure is evolving somewhat,' she said.

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Cough: Smith began to splutter during an interview where she was asked if she was 'incompetent' by Jeremy Paxman

Hard: The Minister grabs some water while Paxman continues to grill her on the fuel tax freeze

And when asked why Transport Secretary
Justine Greening did not know about the freeze, despite being in charge
of motoring policy in Britain, Smith began to cough and splutter.

She
was then attacked by Paxman when she said that slashing the deficit was
still the Coalition's number one priority despite bringing in this tax
cut.

The Newsnight presenter
replied: 'Is this some sort of joke? How can you possibly have as a
number one priority cutting the deficit when you choose to spend an
underspend in funding a tax cut, or failure to implement a tax rise
which was scheduled?'

THE NORFOLK ICE-MAIDEN MP

Chloe Smith was born in Ashford, Kent in 1982 but grew up in Norfolk.

Went to York University and studied English Literature, where she allegedly had little to no interest in politics but rather ‘drinking and dancing’.

When she was elected MP for Norwich North in a by-election in July 2009, after Labour MP Ian Gibson resigned over the expenses scandal, she was the youngest MP in Parliament.

Her cool professional approach to her career earned her the nickname 'The Ice-maiden'.

She became the Economic Secretary to the Treasury in October 2011 in the re-shuffle which occurred after Liam Fox resigned, becoming the youngest Minister in Government.

When David Cameron offered her the job he allegedly did so under the false pretense that she was a chartered accountant.

She had previously worked with professional service giant Deloitte but as a management consultant.

She revealed in an interview with magazine Total Politics earlier this year that as well as painting real life nude models to help her unwind from Westminster life she has posed as a nude model herself.

Although she said she is attracted to ‘folds of flesh’ rather than ‘rippling muscles’, her ideal nude model would be Rafael Nadal.

The Economics Secretary gave a raunchy rendition of the suitable Money Money Money, by Abba at a Commons karaoke party last November.

She replied: 'The plan overall has
not changed. The plan, overall, remains those departmental budgets as
they were laid out. We are looking to use the underspends, however, in a
way that is really valued by households and businesses, and I think
anyone listening tonight who drives a car does know that.'

She was also asked if she ever 'woke up' and wondered: 'My God, what am I going to be told today?'

She
replied: 'I wake up in the morning and know, actually, that some of my
constituents will really value not having to pay that little bit more on
fuel prices come August because the cost of living is pretty tight at
the moment and everybody does know that.'

A source close to Miss Smith told MailOnline today: 'She is fine and is getting on with the job.

'Fuel duty is her policy area and she wanted to go on Newsnight to give the good news for families and businesses.'

A government source later defended the
decision to send Miss Smith to Newsnight, saying: ‘There is nothing
unusual about ministers being made to give interviews on areas which
they are responsible for.’

The only problem was that the
interview with this junior minister made clear she had little
responsibility for, and knowledge of, the decision to defer the tax hike
from August until January.

Mr Osborne came under fire yesterday.
Rebel Tory MP Nadine Dorries told her followers on Twitter: ‘If Osborne
sent Chloe on re scrapping 3p he is a coward as well as arrogant.

‘Newsnight last night would have been
a tough gig for a minister with years of experience – Chloe is a good
egg and didn’t deserve that.

'The submarine Chancellor sacrifices another minister whilst he slips under the surface... again.’

Former Labour deputy prime minister
Lord Prescott said on Twitter: ‘Osborne’s like the captain of the
Titanic. Women and children first!’

And Labour MP Huw Irranca-Davies also added
to the criticism on Twitter: 'Can it be true that Chloe Smith was
sacrificed on Newsnight because Osborne was wining and dining Tory MPs
in No 11? If true, despicable.'

Team: Miss Smith, right, was appointed as one of Mr Osborne's junior ministers last October

But the Prime Minister said: ‘The
Chancellor was announcing this tax reduction from the dispatch box… He
was actually here making the announcement and, I have to say, completely
wrong-footing the Shadow Chancellor.’

Interview: Mr Paxman also asked Smith if she woke and wondered 'my God, what am I going to be told today?'

Miss Smith hit the headlines last October when, aged 29 years, four months and 27 days, she became the youngest minister serving in the Government.

However, according to an account of the phone call giving her the good news, the Prime Minister was under the misapprehension that she had been a chartered accountant and would therefore be well suited to the post.

After Mr Cameron told Miss Smith he would like to offer her the post, she is said to have replied: ‘Well, thank you Prime Minister. . .It would be an honour, but the Treasury…it’s a little daunting…’

The Prime Minister allegedly responded: ‘Not daunting surely for someone who was a chartered accountant?’

The confusion may have arisen because the MP, an English literature graduate, worked for accountancy firm Deloitte before entering politics, but as a consultant not an accountant

The Norwich North MP is then said to have admitted: ‘Er, well, actually Prime Minister, I wasn’t an accountant. I was a management consultant in an accountancy firm.’

Phillip Blond, Tory political expert said afterwards: 'I am glad that was over it was rather painful - I rather like Chloe Smith - her first time - it's not that easy'.

Osborne branded a coward over Chloe Smith fiasco

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Chancellor George Osborne was today
branded an ‘arrogant coward’ by a Conservative backbencher after sending
a junior Treasury minister into the TV studios to defend his £550
million decision to delay the 3p hike in fuel duty.

Labour said that the Chancellor had
‘hid away’ after making the surprise announcement to the House of
Commons that the rise planned for August would be held back at least
until January, apparently without warning colleagues.

But Prime Minister David Cameron
dismissed the charge, saying it was right for Mr Osborne to announce his
decisions on taxation to MPs in Parliament.

Junior Treasury Minister Chloe Smith MP being given a particularly hard time by Jeremy Paxman on BBC2's Newsnight about George Osborne's scrapping of the 3p rise in fuel duty

At Prime Minister’s Questions in the
Commons, Labour leader Ed Miliband mocked Mr Cameron over the decision,
which he branded ‘another case of panic at the pumps’.

Mr Miliband claimed stopping the 3p
increase was proof that ‘plan A was not working’ and mockingly asked
whether the handling of the announcement was part of a ‘seamless
political strategy’.

Eyebrows were raised around
Westminster when the Chancellor made his announcement, as it came just a
day after the Transport Secretary Justine Greening publicly defended
the rise and hours after Labour’s Ed Balls demanded that it be stopped.

It soon became clear that Mr Osborne had not briefed Cabinet earlier in the day.

And junior Treasury minister Chloe
Smith fuelled suspicions that it came as a surprise to ministers when
she repeatedly declined to say when she first learnt about it in a
widely-criticised interview on BBC2’s Newsnight.

‘As a minister in the Treasury I’ve
been involved in discussions for some time,’ she told interviewer Jeremy
Paxman. ‘The Chancellor and the Prime Minister take those decisions.

‘I’m not going to be able to give you a running commentary on exactly who said what and when.’

MP Nadine Dorries took to Twitter to criticise Mr Osborne for sending a junior minister to defend his actions

She said that the cost of the change
would be covered by underspends from Whitehall departments, but declined
to say which ones, telling Paxman: ‘It is not possible to give you a
full breakdown at this point because the figure is evolving somewhat.’

When Ms Smith confirmed that cutting
the deficit remained the Government’s top priority, Paxman responded:
‘Is this some sort of joke? How can you possibly have as a number one
priority cutting the deficit when you choose to spend an underspend on
funding a tax cut?’

Conservative MP Nadine Dorries - a
vocal critic of the Tory leadership - was scathing about Mr Osborne’s
decision not to take to the airwaves himself to defend his decision.

In a series of messages on Twitter, Ms
Dorries wrote: ‘If Osborne sent Chloe on re scrapping 3p he is a coward
as well as arrogant.

‘Newsnight last night would have been a
tough gig for a minister with years of experience - Chloe is a good egg
and didn’t deserve that.

‘The request for Newsnight should have
been refused or given a pre-recorded interview. Paxman was doing his
job, Osborne wasn’t.’

Referring to regular backbench
grumbles that Mr Osborne does not put himself on the front line to fight
the Government’s case in the media, Ms Dorries added: ‘The submarine
Chancellor sacrifices another minister whilst he slips under the
surface... again.’

Mr Miliband seized on the tweets, telling the Prime Minister it was ‘no wonder’ Ms Dorries had called the Chancellor a coward.

‘The Chancellor yesterday sent out the economic secretary to do interviews on this issue.’

But the Prime Minister insisted the coalition was ‘defusing Labour’s tax bombshell’.

He told MPs: ‘The fuel duty increase
was a Labour tax rise. It cannot be a U-turn to get rid of a Labour tax
increase. They put in place 12 increases on fuel duty in government.
They left behind six increases in fuel duty and I’m proud of the fact we
are dealing with them.’

At a daily media briefing in
Westminster, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that Ms Smith
still enjoyed Mr Cameron’s confidence.

Asked when she and other ministers
were informed of the plan to delay the 3p rise, the spokesman said: ‘It
was announced to Parliament yesterday. That is the usual process.

‘The Chancellor of the Exchequer takes decisions on taxation and we announce those decisions to Parliament.

‘The thing that most people think is
important is the fact that we have taken this decision and as a result
of action taken by this Government, prices are 10p lower than they would
otherwise have been.’

Asked whether Ms Dorries would be
disciplined for her attack on Mr Osborne, a source close to the Prime
Minister said: ‘Nadine is Nadine, isn’t she? What can you do?’